Ray Cook & Shannon Davis take the checkered flags at the 6th. Annual Winterfest at Winchester Speedway

The Sixth Annual Winterfest may have been the largest one yet at Winchester Speedway. 55 Super Late Model drivers signed in to compete for the $3,000 payday and 24 Open Wheel Modified drivers signed in to compete for the $1,000 to win show. The Super Late Model competitors were split into 5 groups for qualification with the top 2 transferring directly to the feature. The remaining drivers would compete in group heat races to try to make the show.  In the first group, Eric Hickerson  and Jerry Owens were the fast qualifiers transferring to the A-Main. Group two saw Lamar Scoggins and Ray Cook setting quick times to transfer. Brandon King and Anthony Burroughs transferred from group three. 2007 Track Champion Jerry Ashley and Rod Rosner from East Tennessee were the transfers from group four. Riley Hickman and Tony “The Tiger” Morris from Murfreesboro, Tennessee transferred from group five. Your top ten for the feature are set. Lamar Scoggins took home an extra $150 for being the fastest qualifier and fastest in-state qualifier. Brandon King would take home an extra $50 for being the fastest out-of-state qualifier.

The remaining 45 drivers would compete in group heats with the top two transferring to the feature. David Gentry and Brent Kreke finished one, two in their heat race. Byron Michaels and Georgia’s Tony Knowles would transfer from group two. 2008 Ice Bowl Champion Bobby Mayse and Kyle Beard would transfer from group three. Daniel Miller and Brad Coffey would take one and two in heat four. 2008 Winter Classic Champion Bub McCool and local driver Bruce Williams would transfer from heat five. Your top twenty are set for the feature.

After time trials and heat races, 35 drivers remained to fill five positions. With the threat of rain moving in to the area, the decision was made to shorten the consolation races and place a time limit on them. Both consy’s were plagued with wrecks and time ran out before the required number of laps were completed. David Brannon and Ronald Dunn would finish one and two in Consy #1. John Kellum and Randy Gifford would transfer from Consy #2. The final spot in the 25 car field would be a track provisional given to the local driver highest in the 2007 points standing. That spot would go to Mark Haddon with 2008 Track Champion Jerry Ashley and runner up Bruce Williams already locked in. Your feature is set.

With a record crowd on hand, the Super Late Model show got under way with 25 competitors from all over the southeast. Lamar Scoggins and Riley Hickman would make the front row, but after only three laps, North Carolina’s Ray Cook made his way from sixth starting position to take the lead. Ray would never relinquish the lead for the remainder of the race and took home the $3,000. Riley Hickman held on to second and 2007 Winterfest Defending Champion Lamar Scoggins finished a strong third. Eric Hickerson and Brandon King rounded out the top five. Kyle Beard finished in 18th position, Bub McCool finished 22nd in his 57J TrakStar mount and Bobby Mayse finished 25th.

The Open Wheel Modified race had some top drivers competing as well. T.J. Herndon would set quick time and take home an extra $100 for being the fastest qualifier. The Open Wheel Modified feature was one of the best races seen at Winchester Speedway in quite a while. T.J. Herndon and 2007 Track Champion Alan Holmes would start on the front row and battle it out early for the lead. Alan took the lead in the opening laps, but T.J. would not give up. In the early laps, T.J. and Alan got together on the backstretch and Alan ran out of room and was sent off the track and ended up flipping end over end. Alan was a little shaken up, but was checked out and declared OK. Unfortunately, his car would not receive the same diagnosis. The hot action continued and track local Shannon Davis would win the race coming all the way from 21st position. Jimmy Hiett, Jason Sullivan, Chad Winkles, and Trinity Wyers would round out the top 5.

The top five in the 2 Barrel/Crate Late Model class were Shannon Davis, Randy Gifford, Jerry Owens, Corey Holmes, and David Seibers.

Your Modified Street top five were Henry Hanger, James Sullivan, Jeff Frame, Allen Carter, and Marcus McCrary.

In Outlaw Pony, Bretton Fergerson won his first race of 2008. He was followed by James Dunn, Josh Roberts, Colten Roberts, and Paul White.

John Perry would come across the finish line first in the Mini Stock feature only to have it taken away after being protested by Jason Todd and refusing to tear down. Your top five in Mini Stock are Jason Todd, Jackie Hentz, Justin Maxwell, Clyde Petty, and Mike Norman.

The finishing order in the Pure Stock class was Dewayne Hicks, Josh Bondurant, John Whaley, James Davis, Lucas Horton, and Kevin Whaley.

The newly formed Front Wheel Drive class featured three drivers. Jimbo Breland took the checkered flag followed by Stacy Wright and Kenny Kizzar.

March 8th will be the Season Opener Double Points race with an open practice scheduled for March 1st at Winchester Speedway.

Darrell K. Day